Illinois Department of Public Health - State Partnership Program

Grantee Information

The Illinois Department of Public Health Center for Minority Health Services utilizes a collaborative approach to identify and assess the health concerns of minority populations in Illinois, and assist the creation and maintenance of culturally competent programs.

Grant Project Information

Abstract

The State Partnership project seeks to empower members of rural African-American and Hispanic communities to understand, advocate for, and participate in their own health care by providing services aimed at reducing health disparities among these communities. The project seeks to address the disproportional suffering of these rural communities related to socio-economic conditions of poor health, poor diet, low income, low education and a sense of helplessness. The project also hopes to engage the entire “Kinship” network, which consists of individuals living and relating as family beyond biological ties. The project will educate these populations to incorporate good health practices into their daily lives. Specifically, the project will provide culturally appropriate services that are designed to increase the physical activity of participants of varying ages and kinship. The project will also provide health screenings, referral services, and run monthly, themed educational interactive workshops. The intended outcomes include increasing awareness of health disparities, strengthening leadership at all levels for addressing health disparities, improving cultural and linguistic competency in delivering health services, and improving the utilization of health research and evaluations. The project will be evaluated by collecting data on daily physical activity, tracking fruit and vegetable intake and verifying enrollment in academic curriculum and service projects leading to careers in healthcare. To strengthen the validity of results and alleviate bias, the evaluator will use a variety of data sources. The primary tool will be a pre/post survey of the participants. The evaluator will analyze the data to provide feedback to the program staff in order to help them improve the program and maximize the effects of the intervention.